Papa Bowden waits for true Seminoles to emerge

What has Bobby Bowden learned about his Florida State football team so far?

Not a whole lot.

Because of a team-wide academic scandal that sidelined a number of key players for the first three games of 2008, Bowden chose a lighter start to the season, blowing out Football Championship Subdivision foes Chattanooga and Western Carolina.

"We've got the wins. I think we can qualify for that I-AA playoff," Bowden joked. "Don't know about that I-A playoff."

Bowden is looking on the bright side of the suspensions, which, for most players, run through this week's ACC opener against Wake Forest.

"The thing about this is that it is building depth. You think that you're playing without your three starting (defensive) tackles, normally, (Justin) Mincey, (Budd) Thacker and (Paul) Griffin," he said. "All those guys have been starters down through the years. You're breaking in freshman. You're starting at defensive end a guy that was a walk-on a year ago and we gave him a scholarship, Ben (Lampkin)."

The Seminoles get a jolt of experience this week when Thacker – who served two games of his four-game suspension last season as opposed to most of his suspended teammates' one – returns, as does wideout Preston Parker, who served a two-game suspension for an unrelated gun charge.

"They'll be ready," Bowden said. "You know, one of the amazing things about them practicing up until now is the effort those boys have given in practice. You would have thought they would be starting every week. Their effort has just been unbelievable. They've actually had a good time going on the scout squad and imitating the opponent for the next week. They've worked hard, taken some shots."

Their teammates agree.

"He was just killing everybody," linebacker Dekoda Watson told the Tallahassee Democrat about Thacker. "I'd say, ‘Budd, slow down cause you'll end up over there with (offensive line coach Rick) Trickett.'"

Thacker, of course, is glad to be back.

"It was miserable," Thacker told the Democrat. "It was probably one of the worst things I've ever gone through in my life, that and three games (missed) for a toe injury. It is what it is. I'm back now so let's get after it."

TECH BATTLING TURNOVER TROUBLES

Georgia Tech enters Saturday's non-conference game against Mississippi State with one key objective: hanging onto the ball.

Through three games, the Yellow Jackets have an astounding eight turnovers, including seven lost fumbles (Paul Johnson's offense has fumbled 11 times).

"We have to try to do a lot of things better to keep that from happening," Johnson said. "We have to protect better, use better judgment and all of those things. You just keep working on it. You can't get the ball ripped out of your hands, which is what happened to Boston College a couple times. It is just the stuff you work on every day. Clearly if you lose the turnover battle three to nothing you are not going to win any games. We have to do a much better job taking care of it. We had done a good job of getting some up until the last game, but those things usually come in cycles."

The worst part? There's no clear reason why the fumbles are happening.

"When you turn the ball over, it is usually from different things. If I go back and break down last week's game (a 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech) a guy put a helmet right on the ball. Sometimes that happens – the ball came out. The other fumble was a mesh fumble on the option. It was probably a poor decision but it happens. There was poor timing. The other one was a bad decision to throw a ball down the middle of the field. On (quarterback Josh Nesbitt's) behalf, he was getting rushed pretty well and there were a lot of people around him."

A SLIGHT REBOUND

Following an embarrassing beginning, the ACC rebounded somewhat last week with several important non-conference wins. North Carolina blasted Rutgers in New Jersey 44-12, Maryland surprised No. 23 Cal 35-27 and even Duke got in on the act, picking up its second win of 2008 by beating Navy 41-31.

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer says critics must judge the ACC by its entire body of work, not one or two weekends worth.

"I think if you look at any league at any week and you are going to have a story," he said. "You judge a conference over a period of time. Anybody who starts to judge a conference on weekend or season, it makes good stories, but I'm not sure it is accurate. I feel strongly about the ACC. Our leadership, our coaches, the quality of talent, we play enough games and I think the ACC will represent itself well."